Marianne Thieme, party leader of the Dutch Party for the Animals, has put the importance of animal rights on the agenda during her lecture in the Georgian capital Tbilisi this week.

According to Thieme, commitment to animal welfare also means commitment to people. She also explained that the livestock industry should be stopped as soon as possible.

The lecture was held at the Agricultural University of Georgia in Tbilisi at the invitation of the Homeless Pets Help Organization, a Georgian organisation that helps animals. Currently, according to the organiser Mariam Chkhikvishvili in Georgia, legislation and regulations for the protection of animals are greatly lacking.

Marianne Thieme: “Problems concerning the way we treat animals are transboundary. To bring positive changes for animals we need to cooperate across borders with animal activists all over the world.

At this moment, many wild animals in Georgia are seriously mistreated and no actions are taken to change it. Brown bears, for example, are for entertainment purposes held in small cages and stray animals are captured and killed in a cruel way in many places in the country.

“Standing up for animals is not betrayal towards humans, but it is the foundation for a society that is led by compassion for everything that lives,” Thieme explained in Tbilisi.

Chkhikvishvili, who is also a professor at the Agricultural University in the Georgian capital, hopes that Thieme’s story will inspire administrators and citizens to better protect animals against all types of cruelty.

During her lecture, Thieme also explained that the livestock industry should be stopped. Ending the factory farming industry would mean a better health for humans and the end of animal suffering and environmental pollution.

Many people in the audience heard about the Party for the Animals’ vision on agriculture, animal welfare, nature and the environment for the first time. After the lecture, questions were asked about hunting, plant-based diets and how to deal with animal abuse by minors, which is a major problem in Georgia. Some people said that they were eager to start working on the protection of animals in Georgia after hearing Thieme’s story.

International movement

The Party for the Animals is the world’s first political party representing not only short-term human interests, but the interests of the entire planet and all its inhabitants.

The party currently has 53 elected representatives, five of which are in the Dutch Parliament, two in the Dutch Senate and one in the European Parliament. The Party for the Animals has eighteen sister parties worldwide. In Portugal the party currently has 26 council members and in Spain it gained a million votes.